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Our insurance agent was very adamant about not hauling other horses. Might want to check with them on that. That being said I was always a fan of charging about 50 cents a mile so that I covered twice out of pocket cost. This left me with something towards replacing tires, oil changes, etc in a ride share situation.
Also it is much easier nowadays to use Google maps to calculate mileage.

Because of insurance and other state issues....I only ever split gas costs. I expect the other person to be there to load their horse and either ride with me or follow behind in their own car.....or pay a groom to do it.

** Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. ~Winston Churchill? **

Can anyone elaborate on insurance issues? And does anyone know whether license/ registration status affects this? From what I can tell, a CDL is not required to haul a horse trailer in MI (unless rig grosses > 26,000 lbs), but if you regularly charge to haul, you need a chauffeur endorsement. ??

There is also the issue of Care, Custody or Control coverage when you are hauling horses you do not own. If you got into an accident (God forbid!), who will pay for the horse's vet bills and/or value if it were killed? If you have a liability policy as a professional, this coverage can be added to your policy for hauling horses but it does not exist for the everyday amateur who is hauling a friend's horse.

If you are paid to haul horses, then you have a commercial enterprise and must carry commercial auto coverage. If you only have personal auto, then you are allowed to share the gas expenses but that's it. If you take any other payment for it, you have a commercial enterprise.

Check with your insurance agent on your coverage. This is one of those things that you don't want to screw around with. That last thing you want is to be in an accident hauling for payment and be uninsured.

I ask to split fuel only, but mostly I am hauling close friends and am not looking to do anything more than break even. If it's someone from my barn that I'm hauling, my trainer charges hauling fees (I think it's something like $0.75 per mile) and whoever is doing the hauling gets that much taken off their monthly bill. It seems fair to me. I don't mind taking another horse and in fact think it's nearly criminal to have an empty slot in multiple trailers with fuel prices and our limited supply of petroleum.

Whoa. If you haul a horse from your barn, (not yours) for your trainer, who charges the owner for that -- makes you an agent hauler! Look out, your personal auto insurance will turn back flips to NOT cover you should an accident occur. Delta, you're really exposed if you do that, or anyone else in the barn who does it. The trainer MUST have commercial hauling/trucking license and liability insurance specifically covering not only her trailer and driver but anyone else whose offeres their own rig for transporting horses in her business. Eeeks. This is a very dangerous practice in terms of your insurance, because essentially you're totally exposed with someone else's horse in the trailer. I do this everyday all day for a living and I can tell you you do not want to do this.

Thanks all. Is the insurance a state issue (MI is a no-fault state, so it might be a little different than other states?) or by company?

FWIW, I am not a trailer owner (hence, can't ask my own insurer); I am just trying to help piece together a way of dealing with trailer charges that's fair to both our trailer owners and their passengers.

Whoa. If you haul a horse from your barn, (not yours) for your trainer, who charges the owner for that -- makes you an agent hauler! Look out, your personal auto insurance will turn back flips to NOT cover you should an accident occur. Delta, you're really exposed if you do that, or anyone else in the barn who does it. The trainer MUST have commercial hauling/trucking license and liability insurance specifically covering not only her trailer and driver but anyone else whose offeres their own rig for transporting horses in her business. Eeeks. This is a very dangerous practice in terms of your insurance, because essentially you're totally exposed with someone else's horse in the trailer. I do this everyday all day for a living and I can tell you you do not want to do this.

What if it's your own trailer, you are hauling your own horse to a show and another horse from the barn that is going to the same show? I'd hate to turn anyone down that needs a ride to the same show we're going to but I'd never thought about the insurance issue.

What if it's your own trailer, you are hauling your own horse to a show and another horse from the barn that is going to the same show? I'd hate to turn anyone down that needs a ride to the same show we're going to but I'd never thought about the insurance issue.

You have to check your policy but if you are not paid to haul them it is generally fine. Spliting fuel costs is also generally permitted. It is when you get paid for more than spliting the fuel that it is an issue.

** Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. ~Winston Churchill? **

BFNE is right: the insurance implications (talk to your carrier in particular) usually govern this. Split fuel costs if you're not a commercial hauler or have (but if I'm getting a ride with someone, I make sure to chip in for snacks, clean out the trailer, help load their horse as well as mine, assist with tire changing/rear window duct tape fixing - see, e.g., BFNE and my quasi-epic trip to Aiken a couple of years ago).

Talk it over with your insurance provider, but retreadeventer is right. Most will do everything they can to avoid covering you if you are being paid for trailering but are not carrying a commercial policy. My company said I can take gas money, but nothing else.

Some very good cautions here. Keep in mind, the party deciding whether to sue you, the driver/truck owner, personally, would not be your barn-mate who cares about you, it could another motorist, or your barn-mate's horse/health/life insurance company who could care less about any friendship, they just want your money.

If my coach is going and has space, she charges a set rate depending on where/when it is and if others are going.

If I have to mooch from my very kind stable mates who are willing to take me along in their trailer, I usually pay the gas. All of it. I figure that the mileage/use of their trailer is worth me paying all the gas.

I'm hesitant to pay them more than that as it would then be a 'commercial use' under most insurance policies and if anything happens that might become an issue.